The InheritanceAn Interview with Golden Brooks
By Wilson Morales
April 11, 2011
Known for her lengthy role as Maya Wilkes on the UPN/CW comedy series ‘Girlfriends,’ actress Golden Brooks has been reinventing herself as a film actress since the show went off the air in 2008.
While the San Francisco native has appeared in films such as ‘Beauty Shop’ with Queen Latifah and ‘Something New’ with Sanaa Lathan, she’s been recently cast in lead roles such as ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find,’ and her latest film.
In her first try at the horror genre, Brooks stars in the horror film ‘The Heritance,’ which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray on April 12.
Directed by Robert O’Hara, the film co-stars Keith David, DB Woodside, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Shawn Michael Howard, Rochelle Aytes, Adriane Lenox, Novella Nelson, Andre DeShields and Lanre Idewu.
For cousins Karen (Brooks), Henry (Woodside), Tyrone (Henson), Lily (Rochelle Aytes) and Simpson (Shawn Michael Howard), the truth about their ancestral fortune has been buried for centuries, dating back to the time of slavery. Now, an invitation from the family’s commanding and enigmatic patriarch (David), along with a series of supernatural events and mysterious disappearances at a long-awaited family reunion, forces this once tight-knit family to discover how far they’re willing to go to obtain their precious inheritance.
At the 2010 American Black Film Festival, Brooks was given the Grand Jury Prize for Best Performance by an Actor for her performance in the film.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Brooks talks about her starring in her first horror film, working with the cast, and balancing her life with her recent child.
What’s it like doing your first horror film?
Golden Brooks: It was very interesting and cold. We were in Minnesota in the thick of winter. It was negative zero. But you know what, it was definitely a challenge and I’d never done anything that involved any kind of fake blood or anything like that. But we had a ball and we had such a great team of people and the producer, Effie Brown, and Robert O’Hara who’s a great director. He comes from the theater and he really worked with us as actors. Because the film dealt with so many other layers other than horror, it was just so challenging to create that kind of movie.
A lot of black folks talk about horror films and how they are always the earliest to be killed off first.
GB: Oh, yeah. When my manager brought me the script at the time I was like, ‘Oh, no. A horror film where the black folks die before the credits are even up?’ But this is a movie of course with all African Americans and clearly we make it, most of us make it to the end of the movie which was fun.
What was the attraction to doing this?
GB: Well, when I read it, because I too come from the theater and I have such a high regard for the kind of work that I do and I didn’t want this to be just another slasher film. We’ve seen so many of them and the way that they objectify woman and all of that. But when I read this one it had so many other sub-layers to it other than the horror, being that it kind dabbles in to the African lineage and our history and what that means for our present generation and the past generations that have paved the way for us, which is actually where the horror comes in. This African slave named Chakabazz comes back from the past to haunt the future generations because they have not appreciated what past generations have done for them. So, that in of itself was a whole new layer to the horror. It was actually a learning lesson and also making us, in this present day, just a little more appreciative so that we stop and just look at what our past ancestors have sort of endured for our freedom. That’s what really, really caught my interest when I read it.
How would you describe your character?
GB: Karen is very A-personality type. She’s a doctor. She’s very up tight which is great for me to play, coming from ‘Girlfriends’ and playing a very open minded and sassy, if you will. That character is so opposite. So playing this character, she’s very rigid, but she was the one out of all the play cousins and friends that was actually there for the right reasons, to learn something from the elders which is what we call our uncles and the elder generation that are supposed to be teaching us about our past lineage. I think that my character actually wanted the family to come together and be there as a family and learn from them. She wasn’t just there for the inheritance. She was there to actually learn something, but then of course she gets taken into the whole web and completely turns at the end of the movie.
This is an ensemble picture that was shot in Minnesota. What was the chemistry like on set?
GB: The chemistry was great. Darrin Dewitt Henson, this is our second film that we did together. We did another film called ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find.’ We played husband and wife, and in this movie we play, you know in the black world you have that play cousin title. So all of us are kind of play cousins, but we grew up together. And so it was fun working with Darrin again and then I met some really great actors that I had never worked with before like D.B. Woodside, Rochelle Aytes, of course the legendary Keith David who was just so divine to work with.
Director Robert O’Hara is making his film debut here. What was it like working with him?
GB: You know what I loved about Robert is that a lot of directors, there aren’t a lot of theater directors that then come and direct film. There’s probably like a handful. Maybe there are a lot and I just haven’t worked with many, but because he comes from the theater he just had a different approach to working with actors. I just loved how he listened to what we had to say and he wasn’t going to compromise the work, the craft for a scary moment or an unreal moment. He was definitely in tune and in alignment with what we as actors were feeling, what we were feeling in a particular scene, if it was real or if it wasn’t real. I really enjoyed that kind of proactive approach to directing. It’s nice. Sometimes you get into a situation and it’s the director’s vision and that’s it, but I really appreciated his sort of incorporation and teamwork in creating the vision.
It’s been years since ‘Girlfriends’ has been off air, but that a lot of the actresses from that show are going back into TV for work since there’s not a lot of film roles.
GB: Yeah. That’s so funny. I was talking to my agents and managers about that recently. There are a lot of actresses, a lot of my peers going into TV. I just think that TV, of course, just looking at it from a basic point of view, it’s definitely more lucrative. You’re on a show and if the pilot is picked up there’s the hope that it’ll run for a very long time and then it goes into syndication. Financially it’s a very positive move. Then I just think that there aren’t a lot of films that are being made right now that are incorporating African American women. It’s unfortunate. We have Tyler Perry which is a wonderful venue for people of color, but there needs to be more. There needs to be more. You just kind of wait around and you wait to see if they’re going to go African American if they’re not sure or if they’re going to go Latin or if they’re going to go Indian or if they’re going to go Asian. That’s the kind of tone that’s going on in the movie world. The really great films are the independents like this one. I loved doing this film, but you do these films because you love it. You don’t do it because you know this is going to sustain your lifestyle. It’s going to sustain your creative drive. So I think that’s why TV is becoming a bit more alluring to the African American actress.
What’s next for you?
GB: Well, I just had a baby of course and so I took some time off to focus on that, kind of a huge change in my life. I have also been writing and I just finished a new pilot for TV Land called ‘The Exes’ with Donald Faison. That’s guest starring and a possible recurring on that and then just reading a lot of scripts right now. So things are good. I don’t feel like I’m sort of bound to one thing. It’s like everything is possible right now and I’m really, really happy about that.
Are you looking forward to Mother’s Day next month?
GB: You’re so funny. Yes, I am. Everyday is Mother’s Day as far as I’m concerned, but yeah, of course. I still haven’t gotten used to that. Mother’s Day. It’s only come up once for me. Dakota is just a year, but yeah, it’s fun. It’s challenging, but it’s fun.
Sooner or later there will probably be some kind of ‘Girlfriends’ reunion. Have you ever thought about that?
GB: I know. I’m actually going to do the ‘Mo’Nique Show.’ I did my pre-interview and they were asking about a ‘Girlfriends’ reunion or a ‘Girlfriends’ movie or are they going to petition to bring ‘Girlfriends’ back like they did with ‘The Game’ on BET. I would be very happy with a reunion. It would be nice to just kind of sit and catch up with the girls. Who knows? I think that all of us are kind of doing our own thing and trying to create other opportunities for ourselves.
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